Warwick SU has an ongoing commitment to support postgraduates who teach. We continue to fight for fair pay and working conditions for postgraduate teachers.
As a Students’ Union, as Undergraduates and Postgraduates alike, we support our postgraduate students in their work as teachers, researchers and valued members of our community, and we strive to afford you the respect that you deserve from the University.
Our research has shown us that:
- Support and training are insufficient and inconsistent across departments and modules
- There is a lack of guidance for marking work, as well as how to resolve issues in the classroom
- Preparation and workload are significant issues, and directly linked to pay and contracts
Over the next year, the design and development of proper employment contracts will be a big part of overcoming the issues above, but it is also crucial to ensure that strategies improving teaching quality recognise the massive part that PGR tutors play - and that they are supported and empowered to provide the high-quality teaching that they evidently want to.
Read more about the research findings in our Postgraduate Officer's blog.
UCU Strike Action
UCU recently went on strike over two disputes; one around pay, casualisation and workloads and another one on pensions. These two issues saw our university academic staff on the picket lines fighting for their rights, but also fighting for the future of Higher Education.
Our students voted to support UCU's strikes. To echo NUS “we stand shoulder to shoulder with UCU” and support our striking lecturers and postgraduate students to fight against these issues.
Warwick has a long history of staff and student solidarity. We must remember that we are a university community and there is power in our collaboration. Their working conditions are our learning conditions and we will only see real change to Higher Education when we work together.
Find out more about how students support the UCU strike action here.
Free UCU Membership
Postgraduates who teach are now entitled to FREE UCU (University and College Union) membership.
Warwick SU is proud to be supporting a nationwide campaign to promote free UCU membership to our postgraduate members.
To join the UCU, visit www.ucu.org.uk. Get in touch with your Warwick UCU branch at https://warwickucu.org.uk/.